Tesla’s Giga Berlin facility is undergoing routine daily construction activities, despite reports of a water supply shutoff.
Early morning reports from Tesla’s Giga Berlin facility in Germany suggested that the construction operation may have carried on without running water. Some speculated the reasoning, but it seems that it may have to do with a recent contract agreement between Tesla and a water supplier. Nevertheless, the operation doesn’t appear to have halted as photographs show business as usual in Brandenburg.
Reports from Nachrichten, a German media outlet, suggested that Tesla had an unpaid water bill at the site. A spokeswoman from the Strausberg-Erkner Water Association (WSE) suggested that the company had an unpaid bill, which went ignored after several 14-day notices that went without reply. However, there was no information on the amount of the outstanding financial obligations, nor did the spokesperson provide any supplemental information that proved Tesla had not paid its bills.
Seeing as the water supply situation at Giga Berlin has been a relatively significant issue in the company’s attempt to build a large-scale vehicle manufacturing facility in Europe, it seems unlikely that Tesla would not pay a bill. Interestingly, Tesla did sign an agreement with WSE on October 14th, which secured Giga Berlin’s massive 1.4 million cubic meters of annual water usage.
However, some Twitter users, like @TeslaModel32, stated that the interruption in service could have been a simple switching of the water utility pipeline from the preliminary flow to the larger, more capable input. As the more sizable pipeline was activated after the agreement, there could have been a small interruption in water service.
https://twitter.com/TeslaModel32/status/1316758461481451520
Interestingly, the day at the Giga Berlin facility seemed to be operating as normal as of 5 PM local time in Brandenburg. @GF4Tesla showed several photographs of water flowing as if nothing had happened at the site. The area where cement mixing trucks are cleaned was in regular operation, giving little evidence that Tesla ever experienced a massive construction shutdown as other media outlets claimed.
The routine cleaning of the cement trucks and the act of normal construction efforts going on seems to indicate that nothing at Giga Berlin has halted as of the most recent reports.
Instead, a routine switching to a pipeline that can handle Tesla’s annual water needs may have been activated at the site, but there is still no confirmation that this is the case. However, water is running now, and the Giga Berlin project carries on.
Tesla is still on schedule to complete the project by July 2021, when the Model Y will be the first all-electric car to roll off of the German production lines.
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Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
Tesla plans to supply over 100 Megapack units to support a large stationary storage project in Japan, making it one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities.
Tesla’s Megapack grid-scale batteries have been selected to back an energy storage project in Japan, coming as the latest of the company’s continued deployment of the hardware.
As detailed in a report from Nikkei this week, Tesla plans to supply 142 Megapack units to support a 548 MWh storage project in Japan, set to become one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities. The project is being overseen by financial firm Orix, and it will be located at a facility Maibara in central Japan’s Shiga prefecture, and it aims to come online in early 2027.
The deal is just the latest of several Megapack deployments over the past few years, as the company continues to ramp production of the units. Tesla currently produces the Megapack at a facility in Lathrop, California, though the company also recently completed construction on its second so-called “Megafactory” in Shanghai China and is expected to begin production in the coming weeks.
READ MORE ON TESLA MEGAPACKS: Tesla Megapacks help power battery supplier Panasonic’s Kyoto test site
Tesla’s production of the Megapack has been ramping up at the Lathrop facility since initially opening in 2022, and both this site and the Shanghai Megafactory are aiming to eventually reach a volume production of 10,000 Megapack units per year. The company surpassed its 10,000th Megapack unit produced at Lathrop in November.
During Tesla’s Q4 earnings call last week, CEO Elon Musk also said that the company is looking to construct a third Megafactory, though he did not disclose where.
Last year, Tesla Energy also had record deployments of its Megapack and Powerwall home batteries with a total of 31.4 GWh of energy products deployed for a 114-percent increase from 2023.
Other recently deployed or announced Megapack projects include a massive 600 MW/1,600 MWh facility in Melbourne, a 75 MW/300 MWh energy storage site in Belgium, and a 228 MW/912 MWh storage project in Chile, along with many others still.
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
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Elon Musk responds to Ontario canceling $100M Starlink deal amid tariff drama
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said, opens new tab on February 3 that he was “ripping up” his province’s CA$100 million agreement with Starlink in response to the U.S. imposing tariffs on Canadian goods.
Elon Musk company SpaceX is set to lose a $100 million deal with the Canadian province of Ontario following a response to the Trump administration’s decision to apply 25 percent tariffs to the country.
Starlink, a satellite-based internet service launched by the Musk entity SpaceX, will lose a $100 million deal it had with Ontario, Premier Doug Ford announced today.
Starting today and until U.S. tariffs are removed, Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts.
Every year, the Ontario government and its agencies spend $30 billion on procurement, alongside our $200 billion plan to build Ontario. U.S.-based businesses will…
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) February 3, 2025
Ford said on X today that Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts:
“We’ll be ripping up the province’s contract with Starlink. Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy. Canada didn’t start this fight with the U.S., but you better believe we’re ready to win it.”
It is a blow to the citizens of the province more than anything, as the Starlink internet constellation has provided people in rural areas across the globe stable and reliable access for several years.
Musk responded in simple terms, stating, “Oh well.”
Oh well https://t.co/1jpMu55T6s
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025
It seems Musk is less than enthused about the fact that Starlink is being eliminated from the province, but it does not seem like all that big of a blow either.
As previously mentioned, this impacts citizens more than Starlink itself, which has established itself as a main player in reliable internet access. Starlink has signed several contracts with various airlines and maritime companies.
It is also expanding to new territories across the globe on an almost daily basis.
With Mexico already working to avoid the tariff situation with the United States, it will be interesting to see if Canada does the same.
The two have shared a pleasant relationship, but President Trump is putting his foot down in terms of what comes across the border, which could impact Americans in the short term.
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Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
